Cars Impounded After Vancouver Speeders Hit 160 Km/h

Four young drivers have had their vehicles impounded after they were stopped after hitting speeds of 160 kilometres per hour on Highway 1 in Burnaby and Vancouver in the early morning hours Tuesday.

An RCMP officer on patrol heard sounds of high-performance engines accelerating in the westbound lanes at the Gagliardi intersection on the highway at about 2 a.m. PT and began a pursuit, said RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen.

Thiessen said the officer managed to pull the cars over several kilometres along the road on just before the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.

“Traffic fortunately was light,” Thiessen said. “This could have had disastrous effects. I mean, these young drivers don't have the skills to be operating these kinds of high-end vehicles at those speeds.”

The drivers were clocked going about 140 kilometres per hour in an 80-kilometre-per-hour construction zone and about 160 kilometres per hour in the 70-kilometre-per-hour Cassiar Tunnel, said Thiessen.

Three of the drivers had a learner's license and had previously been prohibited from driving. All four have "extensive driving histories," Thiessen said.

All four vehicles have been impounded. They include a BMW, a Subaru Impreza, a Nissan 370Z and a Porsche.

All four drivers, aged between 21 and 23 years old, were issued with excessive-speeding tickets of $483.

"Theses drivers made a very poor choice resulting in the loss of their vehicles and significant fines," said Thiessen. "They appear to have had a disregard for the public's safety as well as their own."